


The Fox kit and the Gorilla

by TidalLion



Series: Overwatch Revival: Drabbles and Deleted stories [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Irish Emily, Lena's nephew Ethan is in this, Lena's uncle, Never mess with the Irish woman, Post Doomfist short, Warning: some foul language but not much., Written before "Tales of an Oxton" technically, chrono-dissassociation, like 2 or 3 words that's it, lost to time, otherwise it's fine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-10
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2019-01-15 15:50:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12324102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TidalLion/pseuds/TidalLion
Summary: After Tracer's battle with Doomfist, She goes missing to time and space, leaving her nephew Ethan in a bout of depression. Knowing that the boy's distraught after the death of his parents and the disappearance of his aunt, IT's left up to Winston to see if he can get the boy to respond.





	The Fox kit and the Gorilla

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place between chapters 1-3 of Overwatch Revival: The Hunter. You can actually see where the two intersect in Chapter 3 of Overwatch Revival: The Hunter. A more fleshed out background for Ethan Oxton will be written and posted eventually.

Ethan Oxton wasn’t having the best month.That much was an understatement.

She remembered that the night they brought him home from the Hospital. He had been in shock, so much so that it took him a few days before he utterly broke down. Then Lena’s parents tried to get involved, which stressed the boy out so much he’d get sick after every meal. He had stopped eating and was getting so bad that Lena Pulled Ethan from school, getting consideration for his class work. It would was close to the school holidays, so the school allowed it. After dealing with that Lena had turned on her parents. Due to their age, Cynthia’s will and a previously unknown charge against Lena’s parents –both ladies secretly thanked Lena’s late uncle Tony- The Ministry had upheld Cynthia’s arrangements.

  
Not long after the funeral, Lena had been called away for an Overwatch mission. They had all seen it on the news, of Doomfist’s escape in Numbani. It had come to them as no surprise. But what had come as a surprise was the Phone call she had received several days later after returning from the shops.

  
“Um, Emily!”

  
“In the kitchen Ethan Darlin’. You mind helping me out with the parcels?”  
The boy poked his head around the doorway, phone in hand. “There was someone on the phone who was lookin’ fer you. Said he needed to speak to you right away. He sounded… I dunno. Upset when I said you couldn’t talk to him right then.”

Looking up from her purchases, she saw the boy wearing Lena’s old RAF shirt over his shirt. The boy looked rather frightened. “Did he say who he was?”  
“Genny I think. He had this odd accent, not American but… different.”

Her blood ran cold. There was only one man with an accent with a name like that. “You mean Genji?”

“Yeah… wait, is he the ninja dude from Overwatch?” 

“Ethan, give me the phone.” Ethan stiffened and handed over the phone, watching with warry eyes as she punched in a rather long number. There was a long beep as she heard one of the protocols kick in, before the call connected. “Man alive, what happened.” 

There was silence before she heard Genji’s pained voice. “The mission …. Didn’t go as planned.” 

There was a double beep before Winston’s voice join in. “The mission went sideways. Akande –Doomfist- was almost ready for us. He took me out then badly…. Injured Genji.”

“Tracer and I were attacking him together.” Genji panted. “Lena went to distract him, trying to buy us time. She evaded him for a while, but then….”

“He either got very lucky or began to time her blinks and predict where she’d blink to. All of a sudden he managed to grab her by the back of her chrono accelerator and… he pulled the mechanism off. She tried to reach us, but she was blinking uncontrollably. Then she vanished”

Emily nearly dropped the phone. “It’s the slipstream all over again. But Winston, is she-”

“As far as we know, she only has minor injuries if that.”

“But she’s alive.” Emily leaned against the counter. She had no idea why she said it out loud, if it was for her benefit or for Ethan’s. Judging by his body language, the boy had relaxed considerably. “Winston, I thought the accelerator was supposed to keep her stable, even with the one on the front.”

“Not quite. It’s complicated to explain but… If you could come to the base, we could talk about it at length. We’re here trying to recover and work on getting Lena back. I can do it, it’s just a matter of getting the supplies set up and getting another chrono accelerator built.” 

Emily looked around the apartment. “Let me get a few things settled and see if I can’t get out to meet you. I’m not letting her go through this shite again.”

“Emily-“

“No! Her girlfriend left her last time. She’s going to be disoriented, afraid and in pain. I’ve seen what her nightmares do to her, I need to be there when she returns.” 

“Alright, but be careful.”  
————————————————-  
As it turned out, getting a flight to Gibraltar wasn’t an issue. Explaining her reason to border security was. She was sure that she was now suspect to Overwatch activity now, especially at how she had nearly started a row with security. 

“I’m going to be there wherever they bring her back.  Had it not been for your fuckin’ Act, she’d be able to get her kit maintained, checked and tuned up on a regular bases without fear. Now it’s went and buggered up and she’s lost to time again. I’m going to make sure she returns, Petras Act be damned! Is that anyway to treat someone who fought for your freedoms and liberties? Is that any way to treat what’s seen as a veteran to the omnic conflict? Piss off!” 

Security had let her, Ethan and Oliver go after that. She was sure that half the people listening at the hanger and on the coms agreed with her. Then again, The Prime Minister and the King had been unable too come to a decision with the UN on wither to participate or not in the PETRAS act. While Overwatch activity wasn’t sanctioned or supported by the Government, they also wouldn’t take action if agents weren’t caught, after all, it did help alleviate things to an extent. She knew for a fact that Kings row –omnics included- agreed that the disbandment of Overwatch was a mistake. 

Oliver had taken one of Lena’s Private jets, stating that it had been modified for stealth. He was unsure why, but he suspected that either Overwatch or the RAF was involved. He flew them to Gibraltar and had even gotten them to the base before leaving. Someone had to look after the flight school afterall.

“He wouldn’t stay?”

  
“That’s Lena’s job when she’s not with you lot. Still brings in a hell of a lot of money.  Helps train and simulate everything from private pilots to RAF and other services. “

“She never really told us.”

“Anyway, what about the accelerator?” 

“Ah yes.. Right. Well you see, depending on the size of the field or the strength, it acts like an anchor. The smaller it becomes, the weaker the field becomes.  One isn’t enough to keep her anchored, so we used to. Now because of the size and strength of the accelerator, she’s stable enough to be anchored, but unstable enough that it allows her to blink and recall. Now if even one of these seriously malfunctions, or is badly damaged, it severely weakens the field, thus destabilizing completely. This is why she vanished.”

  
“Is she stuck in Numbani?” 

“No. she can travel around when she appears. It depends on how stable she is at the time however. My best guess is that she’s trying to find a way to get here.” 

“Alright but how do we get her back?”

“I’d have to make a small chrono acceleration chamber and hope that she shows up. That way she’s stable while I make her up a new chrono accelerator. I could use one of her old kits in the meantime however.”

“How long will that take?”

  
“Since we have the technology… not long. But assembling it will take weeks.”

  
“Damn I should have brought more…. Say, where’s Ethan?”

“Who?”

“I’ll look for him.” 

As it turned out, Ethan had taken off to find a place to hide, too numb to respond to anything. They realized that he had snuck along an old looking stuffed fox and was hugging the bag close to himself. Ethan certainly had seen some shit, so it was no wonder why he was temporarily regressing in his behavior. He mostly stayed out of the way, hiding in the unused rec room in the near darkness.

  
Genji tried first, even summoning Soba to try to cheer the boy up. When that failed, Emily tried, being again unsuccessful. The two rotated for weeks, being unable to coax the boy out of the rec room. When he did eat is was sparse. Emily cursed internally, blaming herself for not being able to cheer the boy up.  
Three weeks in however, Winston had a breakthrough. 

He had left the lab for some fresh air and had decided to wander through the base. Emily was asleep in Lena’s old bunk, swearing that she could hear Lena calling to her in her sleep. Genji patrolled the base to incase there was any sight of Lena. Athena had reported Ethan yelling out for her, but they were unaware if he had been asleep or awake, as Athena had not detected any anomalies. 

Then again, Lena had shown up for split seconds before.

  
As quietly as he could he ambled into the Common area, looking around. It was near pitch-black, save for a small glow on the couch, quiet words and chimes of music occasionally breaking the silence. Sneaking up he saw the boy watching something on Lena’s phone, curled up in blankets and hugging his stuffed fox.

  
“Ethan?”

  
The boy jumped and looked up at the huge gorilla who stood next to him. “It’s not healthy to be cooped up in the same place all the time.”  
Ethan looked back down at the phone before finally replying. “I don’t want to miss her.” 

“Miss who?”

“Miss Auntie.” 

Winston hesitated for a moment. Was she really blinking in and out of stance around the base? “You mean Lena?”

“Yeah. Sometimes I hear a noise when she appears, other times I see her glowing blue. Sometimes she appears for a second and she’s yelling my name…. but a few times she appeared screaming in pain. I can naver help her.”  
“When was the las time you saw her?” Winston sat down, watching the boy sat up, something around his neck reflecting the light from the screen.  
“This evening. She chucked her goggles at me before she vanished again.”

The boy pulled the blankets away to reveal Lena’s signature goggles. He was floored. She WAS here. 

“Ethan would you mind coming with me? There’s no need to worry about missing her. I actually have an idea.” The gorilla paused and sniffed to make a point. “Besides you need a bath, and some food. I’m sure your Auntie would scold all of us if we didn’t look after you. Come on, you can finish watching DVA’s stream in my office. You’d have a bigger screen.”

  
To his surprise, the boy wrapped himself up in his blanket and belongings, following him out. Winston lead him to the showers and managed to find him toiletries, a clean shirt and jogging shorts –he thanked Reyes for never cleaning out his locker last time he had been there- and looked at the phone while the boy showered. 

“My hands are too big…. Athena, could you message Hana and let her know the situation.. .discretely please. Let her know that I’ll message her once we get to my office so she can send some words of encouragement his way ok? And tell her to be more careful in combat. She can’t help us with her arm broken like that.” 

_“At once Winston. Shall I notify Emily and Genji?”_

“No leave them be. I may be able to make progress with him.” 

_“As you wish.”_

Winston turned his attention back to the screen where Hana was playing an old game. With her broken arm, she had to resort to game streams for the while. He knew she got the message when she paused and looked at the screen.“Hey DK, yeah I can work something out for you. Sorry to hear that that happened to her. You can do it. I believe in you.” 

He chuckled, putting the phone on his bag until Ethan came out. If it hadn’t been for the boy’s height and appearance, Winston would have thought that it was Reyes just by smell alone. “So, why don’t you come up to my office. You can stay there if you want.”

  
“What about auntie?” 

“My lab is just below my office, so if she appears anywhere, it will be in there. Besides, if I have you with me, I may be able to stabilize her for a bit so you two can talk.”

“Mmm.. ok.” 

“Do you want me to carry you?”

“You can’t hold me and walk at the same time.”

“I’ve carried your aunt before. Besides, you could just ride on my back.” 

“I’m allowed to do that?” 

“I’d do it if you were a baby gorilla.”

  
Ethan giggled and climbed on, pulling his bag with him. “Now I see why auntie likes you. You’re really cool and smart.”

“Does that mean you like me too?” 

“Yeah, but I think you and auntie are my favorite.” 

“I can see why you’re auntie is your favorite, but why me… that is, if you don’t mind me asking.”

  
“Well, you’re not human, so you show everyone that you don’t have to be a human to be in Overwatch, or to help save the world. You show everyone that all life is worth saving and helping… That and you’re a gorilla, and Gorillas are my favorite animal.”

That explained why Ethan was warming up to him. He was a favorite, in both heroes and animal standards. He didn’t know Genji and he was still unsure of Emily. He was a lot like Lena but younger. But he proved that even at his age, he could see the value of Overwatch, of himself. Ethan didn’t see race, species or machine, he saw a being that deserved life and acceptance.

  
He was so much like like Lena. 

After explaining what he was doing to bring Lena back, he began to prepare for bed himself, settling himself and Ethan onto his tire-chair and setting up his computer to Hana’s stream, working on making Ethan some of Genji’s Ramen. As long as Ethan was eating it, he didn’t think the ninja would care. Of course, he would share his bananas and a bit of his peanut butter.

  
“Oh hey DK welcome back, you said you had a friend with you right? You said his name was something like Dash right? Well how you doing Dash, besides your aunt? Look I know thinks look scary and stuff now, but your aunt will be ok. Besides, until she’s back, you’ve got DK to look after you, that and our other friends.” 

“Can I type back Winston?”

  
“Sure thing. As long as you pretend there’s no Overwatch stuff.”

  
“Right.” 

_‘Hi DVA, yeah I guess DK told you what’s going on huh? It’s ok, It’s just that I didn’t see my aunt for a while then this happens. I don’t want to lose her too. She’s like the only family I have left. I’m just worried about her. DK kinda found me watching your stream and convinced me to get cleaned up and eat. It’s just that a lot of stuff’s been going on lately.’_

“I hear you Dash. Say, your aunt and I were supposed to play with a few friends in a few night’s time. Do you think maybe you could take her place?” 

“Umm Winston?”

  
“Go for it. It may help you. Besides, never turn down a chance to play with a streamer and a DJ.”

“Wait I’ll be playing with DVA and Lucio?” 

“That’s my understanding.” 

_“Sure, any idea of the game and who we’ll be playing with?”_

  
“I’m thinking about Foxtrot or Lupin ball, you know a bit of retro gaming stuff. Also for anyone in the chat, Dash is the nephew of a really good friend of mine. Feel free to send him some love. On Friday it will be me, Dash, Lucio and a friend from Helix Security and her girlfriend who will be on stream playing one of those two games. Maybe DK will join in with Dash?”

_“Maybe Hana. I won’t play but I will try to monitor. You know who may get on our case… unless you want Ryu to join us.”_

“Hey the more the merrier DK. Not sure about Voicechat with Dash there.”

_“We’ll talk about that later. Don’t abandon your viewers or your stream.”_

“I haven’t!” 

“Mmm hmm….” Winston rolled his eyes, pulling the bowls over. “Eat up Ethan.” 

“Dash…. Is she calling me that because I’m Tracer’s nephew?”

“Kind of, we don’t want to put your real name on the internet. Emily would have a fit.”

“Mmm….” Ethan’s fingers found their way to an uncovered pach of fur on Winston’s arm. “Your fur is so soft. I don’t see why the UN couldn’t let you live where you want. You’re smart, and really nice. Besides, you only hurt badguys. Hey.. Think Auntie Lena will let you be my uncle?” 

Winston chuckled, pushing Lena’s goggles up onto his forehead. “I’m not sure, but we can ask next time she shows up”

  
Little did they know, Lena had just flickered back out of existence behind them. For the first time in days she felt a bit better, knowing that Ethan was in good hands and would get along well with the other members of Overwatch. I was time to go see if she could leave a sign for Emily. Next time she appeared, she’d leave her jacket behind as a sign.

  
At least this time, she knew for certain that she’d return.

 


End file.
